Smartseeds online logistics platform (a member of Demetra-Holding) was the first on the market to launch transportation of grain cargo using electronic waybills (e-waybills) on a commercial scale. Since the beginning of the year, more than 3 thousand tons of grain have been transported using electronic documents.
Currently, grain purchased by Demetra Trading is being transported to Novorossiysk Grain Terminal (NGT) and Taman Grain Terminal Complex (TGTC) using e-waybills. Astral Group, one of the leading e-shipping document operators, is the technological partner of Demetra Trading.
Any cargo carrier, cargo owner or terminal operator can join e-waybill-based transportations. To do this you may need the following:
- If you are a cargo carrier − obtain an electronic digital signature (EDS) and install Smartseeds.Перевозчик (Smartseeds.Carrier) mobile app.
- If you are a cargo owner − obtain an electronic digital signature (EDS) and install Smartseeds.Экспедитор (Smartseeds.Forwarder) mobile app.
- If you are a terminal operator – configure the quantitative and qualitative accounting system.
Anton Kondratov, Director of Smartseeds:
"The introduction of e-waybills allows to optimize the costs incurred by cargo owners for maintaining documents significantly and mitigate errors in documents. As for cargo carriers, it allows to speed up the process of obtaining money: there is no need to wait for closing documents and recover hard copies if lost. In general, the introduction of e-waybills is an important step to whiten the market and combat overloads in road transportation. We invite all participants of grain cargo road transportation market to join us in operations using e-waybills.”
Smartseeds carried out the first test shipment using electronic documents in December 2023. In early 2024, the platform developed updated mobile apps for carriers and forwarders, and in April 2024, the first commercial shipments to NGT and TGTC ports commenced.
The introduction of electronic document management together with Smartseeds electronic queue tool, which is in place at the above two terminals, facilitated digitization of grain cargo transportation. The electronic queue tool supported by e-waybills speeds up transportation, improves efficiency and convenience for all parties involved.
Vladislav Zhukov, Managing Director of NGT:
“Our terminal was one of the first in Russia to accept cargo using e-waybills. Along with the introduction of electronic queue, this contributed to a significant improvement of the company’s operations – vehicle downtime is reduced, cargo is accepted much swifter, and all documents are kept in a single software. We are putting tremendous efforts to develop the terminal, including cooperation with Smartseeds, which is yielding results: we achieved an all-time transshipment high of 7.2 million tons last year.”
Additional information
An electronic waybill (e-waybill) is a full-fledged analogue of a paper document confirming the conclusion of a cargo transportation contract. Using e-waybills allows eliminating paper document exchange and significantly speeding up the “completion" of the shipment.
Smartseeds electronic queue is an effective tool that facilitates cargo flow management at the terminal: scheduling the arrival of vehicles, tracking vehicles on the map and in the register, transfer of data automatically (including using the electronic document management system) to corporate accounting systems. It improves the terminal’s carrying capacity and document processing, so that any cargo-related information becomes available on a one-stop-shop principle.
Smartseeds is the market leader in digital logistics for agriculture*. Smartseeds platform consolidates all cargo transportation market participants and takes on all related processes: from recommending a price and finding a contractor to supporting the shipment, final settlements between participants and electronic document exchange. https://smartseeds.ru/
* according to “Market of digital platforms for agricultural transportation by road” marketing research (“Resource Monitoring”, 2024)
